Saturday, May 28, 2011

The Operation Of Receiving A Passport Isn't Very Difficult

By Ben Pate


A large group of today's global travelers are American citizens. Of course getting a U.S. passport is an essential prerequisite for anyone before they can cross the border into another country. This document acts as your identification and authorization for entry to other countries. It must be kept safe at all times.

Many people think that getting an urgent US passport is somewhat confusing and a hassle. They don't know how to get it or where to start. The good news is that getting one really is quite easy.

US Passport Services, a division of the Bureau Consular Affairs, is responsible for the issue and renewal of passports to US citizens. There are sixteen main offices across the country. In addition applicants can go to any one of the other nine thousand facilities which deal with the issue and renewal requests. Only biometric passports with machine readable parts as well as visually readable parts are issued nowadays.

Make sure to bring your certified birth certificate or your old travel document when applying for a new one. If you were not born in the United States, the correct documents need to be brought. These are from the Consular Report of Birth Abroad agency.

What you need to do is go to one of these places, fill out an application form. This form can be downloaded online or picked up at the US Postal Service. There are different types of passports, each with a unique application which each has different document requirements. People getting this document for the first time will need the DS-11 form. If the previous one was issued before the age of 16, the form DS-11 will suffice to get a new one. Form DS-82 needs to be filled out and mailed. In the instance of lost or stolen passports, form DS-64 will be needed and you will need to explain to the US Department of State's Passport Services how it was lost or stolen.

The fee for this document varies according to the type of application. Two small photographs must be attached to your application. For an additional fee, your photo may be taken at some of these offices.

Once all the forms are filed and fees are paid, the document will take about five to six weeks to be processed and received by mail. This is just an estimate as it may take longer if there are more people applying during that time. Expedited services can be used if a travel document is needed ASAP. This would generally take about two weeks and costs much more than normal.




About the Author:



No comments: